The organic peroxyacid, peracetic acid (PAA) has found wide application as an antimicrobial in fields such as hard surface disinfection, direct food sanitization, food contact surface sanitization, bacterial and slime control in water systems such as cooling tower water, oil field, pulp and paper, and odor control in waste water treatment. In general, smaller molecular and water soluble peroxyacids, such as peracetic acid, perpropionic or perpropanoic acid, perbutanoic acid, and perpentanoic acid, can provide antimicrobial performance, but all have the drawback of possessing an offensive or unpleasant odor profile. Bigger molecular peracids, such as perhexanoic acid, perheptanoic acid, and peroctanoic acid, offer a reduction in offensive smell, but possess reduced water solubility that necessitates the use of solubilizing agents, such as surfactants, and/or solvents, and/or coupling agents, while still providing antimicrobial performance. One drawback of such solubilizing agents is that they can decrease the chemical stability of the peroxyacid. Peroxyacids having a substituent group on the alpha carbon, such as perglycolic acid, perlactic acid, or perpyruvic acid, have a reduced odor and also provide some antimicrobial properties. However, such compounds are not stable due to incompatibility of the substituent group, such as hydroxyl, ketone, or the like, with the peracid group. Such instability/incompatibility has prevented use of such peroxyacids in practice.
There is therefore a need for a low molecular weight and water soluble peracid that has a reduced unpleasant odor profile, provides good antimicrobial performance, and is chemically stable so that it can be used in a wide variety of formulations and applications.